Winners and losers divided in new car sales

How Lamborghini managed to outsell a budget automotive brand.

Winners and losers divided in new car sales

It's also the number of cars Proton sold in April, a month that divided motoring winners and losers in stark fashion as the Australian car market continues to contract.

Lamborghini sold more cars in April (12) than the embattled Malaysian brand has in 2017 to date (11), painting a dark picture for the struggling outfit. Even Ford's Australian Falcon (rest in peace) also managed to outsell the Preve, Exora and Suprima S.

Ssangyong is another brand doing it tough, selling just four cars in April, and 42 for the year to date. Interestingly, neither brand registered an example of the Proton Exora or Ssangyong Stavic people movers last month, as buyers continue to swing toward SUVs.

Chrysler is unlikely to be happy with 20 cars for the month, but then again it only has one vehicle on its books. The recently refreshed 300 sedan hasn't captured the hearts of Australian buyers – possibly because people keen on a beefy V6 or V8-powered rear-wheel-drive sedan have been buying the last of Australia's own four-doors.

Infiniti is in more trouble than most, as it has invested in a fairly fresh lineup with a choice of sedans, SUVs, hatchbacks and a suave new coupe in the Q60. The result? 25 new vehicles registered in April, and 310 for the year to date. Only 83 examples of the new Q30 hatch and QX30 crossover found new homes this year, well short of the 2554 combined sales recorded by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and GLA on which they are based.

While we're at it, Citroen's 40 deliveries in April are hardly inspirational, particularly when you consider it has been around for nearly 100 years. China's much less experienced Haval outfit outsold the French brand last month, while MG has impressively managed to do so for the year to date.

It's business as usual at the top of the order, where Toyota is a clear number one ahead of Mazda and Hyundai – though Holden came within two deliveries of losing fourth place to Ford.

The big winner for Toyota was the LandCruiser family, which stormed into the top 10 for vehicle sales on the back of 1301 Prado, 597 70-Series and 1032 LandCruiser wagons finding new owners. That's a massive result for the Prado suggesting that Toyota's outback and mining sales staff may have delivered a coup for the brand.

The HiLux ute was once again Australia's best-selling vehicle, ahead of Fords still-popular Ranger rival and the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.

Mazda's new CX-5 started life on the top step of the SUV podium, while Toyota's Camry was once again the best-selling Australian-made car.

Sales in April dropped from 87,571 in 2016 to 83,135 this year - likely a result of Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays all landing in April - leaving the market more than 10,000 units behind for the year to date.

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Drive Comments

Steve 0 | 2017-05-03 06:28:59

There's one good reason for this. People are sheep. They can't think for themselves. They just follow the crowd. BAAA BAAAA BAAAA.

yarpos Steve 0 | 2017-05-04 05:28:18

Good reason for what SteveO ? you seem to be trying to make a point but struggling a bot it seems. It seems quite logical that some cars are more popular than others, and better fit peoples needs, so they sell more. Are you saying Monty Python style that we are all individuals! and should seek out ever more obscure cars to buy just for the supposed cred of being different?

FrankSV6BMW | 2017-05-03 07:49:21

Do you know the split between private and business buyers?

rossm | 2017-05-03 08:11:02

It's a bit cute of Toyota to lob the Landcruiser wagon, Prado and 70 series in together. Different vehicles competing in different categories I would have thought. But there's statistics and there's lies.

kwami | 2017-05-03 11:31:24

Steve 0, can you not invent a new insult? parroting the same slur as other haters only qualifies you to be part of the flock. albeit the bad flock, lol!

yarpos kwami | 2017-05-04 05:29:34

one trick pony, methinks

Spazzatura Falo | 2017-05-03 13:33:36

These sales number pieces are interesting and appreciated. But any chance of some more historical context? Perhaps a graph showing sales numbers 10 years ago vs now, by manufacturer and/or segment, for instance. Would be interesting. Just a thought.

Sidney Mincing | 2017-05-04 00:12:39

All the publicity hype that some Aussie no-brains have been lapping up becomes apparent with toyota at the top. A mates Playdough, sorry, Prado, not many kilometres, has just had 3rd and fifth gear replaced, together with a complete clutch assembly, a replacement tail-shaft. And the cost?Astronomical!

yarpos Sidney Mincing | 2017-05-04 05:32:12

And in my case I have a 2009 Hilux with half a million kilometres , still going strong, go figure. Cars are machines, sometime the break. People are stupid , sometimes they break cars.

Johna | 2017-05-05 05:25:15

I cannot believe the environment sapping Toyota Landcruisers are in the top 10. What is wrong with people? You never see any dirt on or under these behemoths so they are not used for their intended purpose. The Toorak taxi monicker is ideal. And for the Prado model, how ugly is it? Slab sided with an overbearing front end. At least the 200 series (or whatever it is called now) looks better than its previous iteration.